Gunmen kidnap Western couple working for UN in Yemen-police source

Source: Reuters - Tue, 25 Mar 2014 16:46 GMT

Author: Reuters

(Adds details and background)

SANAA, March 25 (Reuters) - Gunmen kidnapped a married Western couple working at the United Nations office in the Hada district of Yemen's capital Sanaa, where many diplomatic missions are located, a local police source said on Tuesday.

The source gave no further details.

Kidnapping is common in U.S.-allied Yemen, where the government is struggling to contain an insurgency from Islamists linked to al Qaeda, a southern separatist movement, fighting in the country's north, and sporadic conflicts with armed tribes.

Hostage-taking is sometimes carried out by militants aiming to intimidate Westerners, but is also used as a tactic by tribesmen to resolve disputes with the government, and by opportunists hoping to sell hostages on to other groups.

Three foreigners, including a Czech doctor, a British oil worker and a German were seized in February.

The United States, along with some other Western and Gulf countries, is working with an interim government to effect a political transition after former president Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced from office in 2012 by street protests.

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